June 29

AM: 6 miles easy

PM: 12 miles easy/moderate

I woke up dog tired, so I flipped my morning and evening runs, doing core and push ups in the morning. I'm glad I did because I ended up feeling awesome in the evening for a Fire Trail run. I opened up in the last 10 minutes and hammered it in.

June 28

AM: 8 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy, drills

A pair of easy, flat recovery runs with hurdle drills at the track in the evening.

June 27 (121 miles/week)

AM: 21 miles moderate

I knew the run today was going well when I was hitting my splits for the Fire Trail run faster than usual. I pressed on into Tilden and picked up the pace up the climbs, making it to the top of Vollmer Peak nearly three minutes faster than I did on the same run just a few weeks ago. I stopped for water at 1:15 and 2:15, but on the descent I was really wishing that I had brought some gels, Gatorade, a turkey sandwich: really anything to get some blood sugar at that point. I was starting to bonk, and I knew it. I made it about halfway up the climb in Claremont Canyon, which is absolutely murderous even on fresh legs, before thinking to myself, "This is probably stupid," turing around, and heading home. I pushed the pace on the flats a little on the way home after the water stop, overcoming weak legs. I stopped my watch right at 2:31:17--the same time as my now two year-old marathon PR that I hope to crush come 10/10/10 in Chicago.

Today's honest effort long run caps off the highest week of mileage I've ever run, and I'm really satisfied with the way it went, especially because I didn't sacrifice any quality. The plan now is to come down a little this week, and then probably even more the week after that with my family visiting and the 10,000m at Club Nationals.

Also, an afternoon long-run coma is definitely in the works as I write this. I'm f***ing knackered.

June 26

AM: 11 miles moderate

PM: 5 miles easy

I had planned a long run today, but we got started a little late to make it back for the US World Cup game, and my legs felt cooked. I went up with some guys in the SCTC, and we hit the Wildcat Canyon Trail: an undulating, 5-mile out-and-back, kind of similar to the Umstead run. On the way back, Sean took off, and I hesitated but ultimately broke off the main group to give chase. This lasted for about 10-15 minutes before we hit a tough middle hill, when I realized I was both cooked and probably not going to catch up. Living to fight another day, I jogged it in.

I got in a quiet night run this evening, with the only real excitement being a guy getting busted for DUI with an angry cop on my way home.

I'm hoping the long run tomorrow will cap off a strong week. I missed the infamous Duel Ferries run today back in Maryland, which was a little bittersweet. That remains one of my favorite workouts of all time.

June 25

AM: 8 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy

Just a pair of easy recovery runs. I probably needed it after yesterday's debacle of a temp.

June 24

AM: 6 miles easy

PM: 10k progression/tempo, 13 miles

My legs felt better than I thought they would on the morning run on the dirt track, but other than that, there isn't a ton to write about.

The workout in the evening went a little differently than I planned. I was feeling the mileage in my legs, yet I still started faster than I wanted.

Splits: 5:31, 5:30, 5:23...WHAM!

That was the sound of me colliding with a small child in lane 1, unfortunately. The SCTC shares the track with a youth club of sprinters and throwers, and as youth are apt to do, they weren't really paying attention. Making matters worse, the infield was fenced off for some reason, so they would cluster in large groups in lane 1, often with their backs turned watching their peers run workouts of their own. After yelling "TRACK" about 1,500 times and despite pleas from their coach to watch out, the inevitable happened. Fortunately, I managed to catch her as she was falling, see and ask that she was OK, and continue the workout.

Feeling neither morally or physically good about inadvertently bulldozing a young track star, I soldiered on, still hitting 5:27 despite previous weaving and literally stopping in the middle of the rep. And then it happened again.

Different small child, different side of the track, fairly equal young-person obliviousness: I somehow managed another collision four laps later. This one wasn't as bad, and she at least saw me coming, so no catching was necessary. If the last collision was a wreck, this played out to be more of a fender-bender, albeit still knocking me off course. Feeling deflated and cautious, I limped home to a 5:24 and 5:29, and :78 after that to finish the 10k workout.

I can't blame the kids because, well, they're kids and have to figure things out, and there have been plenty of adults obliviously lingering in lane 1 (there is a huge fitness class that takes place during the Monday workouts) that have likewise resulted in some close calls.

It wasn't the greatest of workouts for obvious multiple reasons, but I was happy to get a second workout in during what is shaping up to smash my highest week of mileage ever. On that note, the cooldown was slow and brought on a major sugar crash by the end. Easy double for me tomorrow.

June 23

AM: 10 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy, hurdle drills

I ran down to Berkeley Marina again in the morning, listening to what would become an epic US-Algeria World Cup game. Donovan scored while I was on the train on the way to work while I listened via headphones on my phone, and I had to restrain myself from hugging unwitting strangers after that happened.

My evening run was again to the track with a mile easy. I stopped for my first set of hurdle drills in almost four years, but I immediately felt more limber albeit extremely uncoordinated. Core and pushups followed at home.

June 22

AM: 11 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy

Easy runs to Cesar Chavez State Park and the bay in the morning, followed by an easy run to the track with a mile on the infield in the evening.

June 21

AM: 6 miles easy

PM: 5 x 1200m @ goal 5k-8k pace w/ 400 jog recovery, 3 x 200m strides, 12 miles

In the morning, I ran easy around campus. This included a stop to snap the above photo, which I absolutely love for its pretentiousness. The story as I later found out is that if a faculty member at Berkeley wins a Nobel Prize, only then can he or she get one of the coveted parking spots close to your building.

I ran with the Strawberry Canyon crew after work, jumping in with David on the long distance workout (they typically have a 800/1500 and 5k/10k workout going). My legs felt battered and heavy, but we were still able to hit the targeted times. I had to run the fourth rep solo, and that proved to be challenging, but I rallied for the last one. A tired and weary jog home brought an end to the day. Despite the running volume right now, I'm happy to keep in quality.

Splits: 3:40, 3:44, 3:39, 3:45, 3:41

Solid start to the week.

June 20 (113 miles/week)

AM: 12 miles easy, strides, drills

PM: 7 miles easy

I hit the fire trail in the morning, taking it relaxed on the way up and coasting quickly on the way down. At one point during a steep downhill, I tried to find a way to maximize my speed while staying in control. I ended up making almost ski-like turns, bounding with every step. Given how steep the hill was, it made me able to descend rather quickly. I'm entering a trail race in August, and tackling this issue has crossed me mind more than once.

After sleeping and watching the US Open in the afternoon, I biked over to campus and met David from the SCTC for a quick shake-out run. I still felt fine.

I can definitively say that I'm running more right now than I ever have in my life. Other than work, I have abundant cool weather, daylight and free time, which has made it easy to log the miles. The target next week is 120. If that happens, it will be an all-time weekly high.

June 19

AM: 20 miles easy/moderate

I drove up into the Berkeley hills to Redwood Regional Park. I was 10 minutes late after losing my way (truly shocking for those who know me well), so I missed my group of SCTC runners.

I contemplated what to do for a couple of minutes in the parking lot, and I decided that since I was up there anyway, I may as well make the most of it and go exploring. The resulting run was most excellent over exposed rocky ridges, under redwood canopies, up and down some brutal canyon trails, 60-degree temperatures and 100% on trails. I stuck to these ridge trails that circumnavigate the park, but they connect by winding in and out of the canyon.

I ultimately found my group and got in roughly a half hour with former Furman runner Sam who is also racing the Chicago Marathon. I know more than 20 runners headed there, and most of them are looking to run really, really fast. This could be an epic. 16 more weeks.

I added on another 45-50 minutes to make it 2:25, which I'll call an honest 20 with all of the variability of the terrain.

June 18

AM: 9 miles easy

Relaxed recovery run on the fire trail while listening to the US vs. Slovenia epic.

June 17

AM: 4+ miles easy

PM: 3 miles @ MP, 800m jog, 2 miles @ half-marathon pace, 800m jog, 1 mile @ 10k pace, 13 miles

After an easy shake-out morning run, I went back to the track for a long workout. I did this solo on account of getting off of work too late to make the SCTC workout. Having read the reports from the GRC guys over the last few days, I had a feeling that this was going to be a deceptively tough workout. It was. I hadn't done a long grinder like this in a while, and I could certainly feel it on the second and third reps. I could definitely feel the mileage in my legs, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

In addition to a youth league track practice, Bolota Asmeron (2-time Olympian, 13:15 for 5k) was working out with another guy while I was on the track. Not surprisingly, he was running a great deal faster than I was. Given that I was already battling stomach issues and having to apply some focus to hit my times, I felt slow and lumbering.

Splits: 16:47 (5:36, 5:36, 5:35), 10:36 (5:19, 5:17), 5:06 (even, but not as comfortable as I would have wanted.

June 16

AM: 9 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy

Fire trail in the morning, and the dirt track in the evening. The goats were still there, albeit on a different hill. I came within inches of frying myself on their electric fence.

Here are the top-10 signs that the mileage surge is working so far:

1. Lower resting heart rate

2. Unconsciousness within 60 seconds of my head hitting the pillow.

3. So. Hungry.

4. Pleasant and persistent fatigue.

5. Ready for bed at 9:00 PM

6. Walking into sign posts after 2.5 beers.

7. Sick farmer's tan.

8. Good naps have become epic naps.

9. Looking gaunt.

10. Total lack of a specific kind of "drive," if you get my drift.

June 15

AM: 11 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy

Pretty darn tired on both runs today. I didn't really wake up in the morning until I hit the turnaround at Cesar Chavez State Park.

"The goats moved in" on my second run. When you read that last sentence, it looks like a metaphor or idiom of some kind with the quotations.

It's not. I literally mean goats: a few blocks from downtown Berkeley in a residential neighborhood, just when I thought the town had finished throwing weird-hippie-town curveballs my way. There seem to be people, misplaced objects or animals that I see on a daily basis that just leave me scratching my head.

I jogged to the dirt track where I've been doing my shake-out runs, and on the opposite side of the outside fence were 3-4 dozen goats happily grazing away on shrubbery, right next to a swimming pool. They were fenced in, so someone obviously put them there, but I have no idea why they were there or what they were doing.

June 14

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 2 x 1200m @ 5k pace w/ 400 jog, 4 x 600m @ 3k pace w/400 jog, 6 x 200m @ mile pace or faster w/ 200 jog, 12 miles

The shake-out run this morning was pretty damn slow. I unquestionably still had a weekend's worth of running in my legs.

I felt a little tight going into the track workout this evening, but I managed to pull it together. I jumped in with the same group from Saturday (Strawberry Canyon Track Club) for a lighter but faster workout. I ended up with three other guys, sharing the lead while other groups ran different paces or workouts. They have a lot more structure than I've been used to in the last year, but they were a pleasant group consisting of a lot of Berkeley grad students. As for the workout itself, I had to dust off the cobwebs on the first rep but was able to open up nicely on the others.

Splits: 3:42, 3:41, 1:49, 1:45, 1:46, 1:44, :32, :31, :31, :31, :31, :29

June 13 (110 miles/week)

AM: 12 miles easy/moderate, strides, drills

PM: 7 miles easy

I hit the fire trail again in the morning, running to Grizzly Peak Rd and back while stopping to take a quick photo at the bench (shown above). I stopped to do strides and drills at the playground across the street from my apartment, which also has a pull-up bar (score!). The strides felt crisp.

In the early evening, I ran easy on the dirt track. I'm happy with the way this week went: my highest week of mileage in 2010. The legs feel good as I'm writing this.

June 12

AM: 18 miles easy/moderate

I hooked up with a Berkeley-based group (the Strawberry Canyon Track Club) for a long run this morning up the fire trail and through Tilden Park. We checked out some new trails and ran through a lot of brush, which was kind of adventurous. The club has a lot of guys running similar times as I have, and many or most are grad students as well, so I'm going to try to jump in their workouts next week. Oddly enough, they also have a few guys racing at Chicago.

I added on a little for about a half hour afterward: very pleasant run before the US-England game. It felt refreshing to run with some folks after weeks of solo training.

June 11

AM: 9 miles easy

Ran up the fire trail to the bench and back home. I needed a single day of recovery running here.

June 10

AM: 11 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy

Berkeley Marina and Cesar Chavez State Park in the morning, and then easy to campus and the track in the evening.

June 9

AM: 5 miles easy

PM: 8:00 (4:00), 5:00 (2:30), 4:00 (2:00), 1:30 (:30), 1:30 (2:00), 1:15, 10 miles

A shake out in the morning was just a taste of what I was in for in the evening. My stomach wasn't feeling too hot, but I was still able to put in a decent effort. The times above indicate the "on" time (and the recovery). The first was up a killer climb that had me running over 9:00/mile pace, yet I was totally anaerobic by the end: the Claremont Canyon trail is a steep bastard. I hooked up with the fire trail shortly thereafter.

After jogging my second recovery, I came across a dead house cat sprawled in the middle of the trail with what looked to be a broken neck, and death so fresh that the flies weren't even there yet. Understandably, this sort of freaked me out having heard stories of mountain lions in the area and being far from any houses that might have said cat. It was like the opposite of the "One More Time" running omen from last weekend. So I turned around and did the third fourth rep slightly downhill with the fourth slightly uphill and the last one near all-out on a brutally steep 200m hill on the trail. That seemed like plenty for the day.

June 8

AM: 11 miles easy/moderate

PM: 6 miles easy

I ran again down to the bay this morning, this time with a loop around Cesar Chavez State Park: a ~1 mile add on around a peninsula at the marina. The wind was kind of nuts. This was one of those mornings where I took a long, hard look back at my pillow but then thought better of it and ended up feeling well. I nonetheless found myself nodding off a lot of the morning at work.

One good note: I took my resting heart rate at my desk, and it was 40 bpm. Resting heart rates don't mean that much after a certain level of basic fitness is attained (some of the best runners in the world have displayed RHR in excess of 60)...unless they're dropping. This is the lowest I've measured my heart rate mid-day before, and I'm hoping a sign of good things to come.

After work, I jogged easy around Berkeley with a few easy laps around the track at the stadium.

June 7

AM: 10 miles easy

PM: 5 miles easy

Pretty uneventful day other than feeling dog-tired on both runs. I'm still getting used to getting up before 5:30 in the morning. Aquatic Park to the bay in the morning, and the dirt track in the evening.

June 6 (102 miles/week)

AM: 19 miles moderate

Vollmer Peak Long Run

I ventured back into the Berkeley Hills again for a long run around noon. We definitely had warmer weather, leaving me sunburned and thirsty afterward. Taking no food or water made the descent tougher than it needed to be.

About 10 minutes into the run, I passed a front yard full of students barbecuing and lounging poolside. They giggled, soaked up the California sunshine, and sipped beer as Daft Punk's "One More Time" blared out of their sound system. Really.

Hah, this is going to be WAY more fun than that is, I lied to myself.

I kept moving and interpreted the song as an omen for a good run, glaring through the sun at the ascent ahead. I thought back to my friends and teammates pushing through the heat and humidity on the east coast. I don't envy you: those are the kind of weeks during the summer that build character.

I climbed up the fire road past "the bench" until I hit Tilden Park, finally making it to Vollmer Peak 1:13 into the run. I couldn't help but stop for a moment to take the view in. To one side, I could look down the hillside and could see almost all of San Francisco Bay, from San Jose to the Bay Bridge to Alcatraz to Marin County to the north. The famous San Francisco fog pulled over the city like a duvet, so it looked like I was standing above the cloud line. To the other side around a cell phone relay tower, the expanse of inland California (shown above) offered an interesting contrast to the sprawling metropolis and ocean just on the other side. This made the run completely worth it. I realize I'm not exploring unchartered territory here, but it's nice to find places like this when you're exploring a new area for the first time. I'll definitely be back.

Vollmer Peak is at 1,905 feet, meaning that I gained more than 1,700 feet on the way up. To put this into context, the Empire State Building is 1,450 feet from the ground to the tip of the spire. I added a little extra on the way back home to make the run 2:20.

I quaffed 30 ounces of a blueberry-mango smoothie out of a giant souvenir baseball cup when I got back and stretched, and it came to no surprise to find myself dozing on my back on the floor of the apartment listening to the radio later in the afternoon. I woke up drooling all over the place and savagely hungry, though this may have been from the daily wafts of secondhand cannabis Berkeley has treated me to on a daily basis and not the run itself. I guess it's better than the daily wafts of urine I get in San Francisco. Those are definitely two things I will always associate with Northern California: not even the smells of piss or potheads can put you in a bad mood. I have eight more weeks out here.

Fortunately, I haven't had many bad meals out here and walked into town for a successful burrito hunt. There aren't a lot of chain restaurants to speak of, making for a lot of food trials while I'm out here.

That leaves me with 102 miles this week. More to come in the weeks ahead, I hope. The good news is that I may have also found a group to train with out here, but that's still in development and should shake out this week.

June 5

AM: 2k @ goal 10k pace, 400 jog, 4 x (400/300/200) with 100 jog between the 400/300 and 200 jog between the 300 and 200 and 400 jog between sets, 12 miles

(Understood all of that? Good!)

I slept in for a little bit before I jogged to the Berkeley track (Edwards Stadium) for some speed. Since I have quite a few weeks to go before Chicago, I want to make a concerted effort to improve my efficiency and running economy. This means drills and speed workouts with some regularity.

The 10k-paced rep felt really relaxed. If I can make it into a track 10,000m I'm targeting in July, then 31:40 seems like a reasonable goal. I consequently was happy to find it easy to lock into 75-76-second laps. During the speedier portion of the workout, I shared the track with several others, including one girl who clearly had some wheels and almost ran me down on my last 300 during her 600 despite me splitting a :46. We cheerfully exchanged a "nice job" afterward, and I trudged onward for a 3.5-mile cooldown. Good lord does my speed need work.

I still felt great and probably better than I have in weeks. Coming to Northern California clearly has instilled a breath of fresh air into my running, which it most desperately needed. Couple that with an interesting internship and some city exploring, and things aren't too bad despite the absence of most friends, family, and one lady friend in particular on the east coast.

Splits: 6:19, :69, :49, :33, :68, :47, :32, :68, :48, :33, :67, :46, :32

June 4

AM: 10 miles easy

PM: 5 miles easy

I took off toward the bay in the morning and wrapped around the aquatic park toward the marina. I planned to do 11, but a pit stop at the turn around saw the end of that plan as I had to get back for work. I stumbled on a pleasant little park (see the above photo) on the bay with dirt trails. These long-eared jackrabbits scattered while I ran by...though I guess all jackrabbits have big ears. I digress.

After work, I took it easy for my first barechested run since I've been out here: the weather has been that mild thus far, even though I'm typically pretty sensitive to the heat. I just ran to the dirt track, did an easy mile, and ran home.

I did core work and a sets of 50/40/30/20/10 push-ups when I got home. This follows drills yesterday. Since I have a feeling I'm going into run-work-run-sleep-repeat mode during the week, I want to make a point to do something extra almost every day, whether it's drills, strides, core, push-ups, or real stretching with the rope.

June 3

AM: 9 miles easy

PM: 8 miles easy

Easy run around campus in the morning with a couple of miles on the dirt track. A fairly steady mist left me soaked afterward.

I checked out a new paved trail in the evening, heading west to the Berkeley Athletic Park: a lake that is bordered by a set of railroad tracks and a highway, but it otherwise sits right on the bay near a marina. The best part? It was almost entirely flat. That's been difficult to come by thus far in my time in California, and my legs are feelin' it.

June 2

AM: 4-mile tempo, 9 miles

This was my first earnest workout in about a month, and it showed. I felt tired, but I have a feeling that has more to do it being 6:30 in the morning. As much as I like the mornings, I may have to switch to post-workday workouts if I'm going to get any quality work in. Since it never seems to get warmer than 70 degrees here with no humidity, that shouldn't be a problem.

I've clearly got some work ahead of me, but it felt good to feel uncomfortable again. I told myself that anything at or under 5:20 pace would be fine, and I ended up splitting 5:20, 5:18, 5:20, 5:22. I was wiped in the afternoon and bagged a shake-out run in favor of sushi.

June 1

AM: 10 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy

Relaxed morning run on the Greenway Trail in Berkeley, followed by a shake-out after work on the dirt track that included a few strides on the straightaways.